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Are Investors Undervaluing Sonic Automotive (SAH) Right Now?

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Here at Zacks, our focus is on the proven Zacks Rank system, which emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions to find great stocks. Nevertheless, we are always paying attention to the latest value, growth, and momentum trends to underscore strong picks.

Considering these trends, value investing is clearly one of the most preferred ways to find strong stocks in any type of market. Value investors use tried-and-true metrics and fundamental analysis to find companies that they believe are undervalued at their current share price levels.

Luckily, Zacks has developed its own Style Scores system in an effort to find stocks with specific traits. Value investors will be interested in the system's "Value" category. Stocks with both "A" grades in the Value category and high Zacks Ranks are among the strongest value stocks on the market right now.

One stock to keep an eye on is Sonic Automotive (SAH - Free Report) . SAH is currently holding a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy) and a Value grade of A.

Investors should also recognize that SAH has a P/B ratio of 1.57. The P/B ratio pits a stock's market value against its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. This stock's P/B looks solid versus its industry's average P/B of 1.81. Over the past 12 months, SAH's P/B has been as high as 1.65 and as low as 0.70, with a median of 1.

Value investors also use the P/S ratio. The P/S ratio is is calculated as price divided by sales. This is a prefered metric because revenue can't really be manipulated, so sales are often a truer performance indicator. SAH has a P/S ratio of 0.14. This compares to its industry's average P/S of 0.26.

Finally, our model also underscores that SAH has a P/CF ratio of 6.83. This figure highlights a company's operating cash flow and can be used to find firms that are undervalued when considering their impressive cash outlook. SAH's P/CF compares to its industry's average P/CF of 8.48. SAH's P/CF has been as high as 7.17 and as low as 3, with a median of 4.59, all within the past year.

These are just a handful of the figures considered in Sonic Automotive's great Value grade. Still, they help show that the stock is likely being undervalued at the moment. Add this to the strength of its earnings outlook, and we can clearly see that SAH is an impressive value stock right now.


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